Two Steps Sideways
by numbartist
Summary: Post-epi for Autopsy 2x02. Chase finally sets things straight after all of the grief he receives about kissing Andie.


A/N: Thanks to Engima731 for the beta and prompt!

---

The case was finally over but Chase's mind continued to dwell on the anxiety flooding his senses as he stared absently into his locker. While he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he had done, the condemnatory glances he'd continued to receive from his colleagues said otherwise. All he wanted right now was for this case to be behind him but he knew that the uncomfortable layer of disapproval would continue to hover thickly in the air as long as it was open for misinterpretation. This situation desperately needed to be cleared up but half of him wanted to just let it be. Chase was no stranger to the icy stares and silence, after all.

He fiddled around with the belongings scattered inside of the chaos that was his locker, trying to envision a solution for his current predicament but grew distracted by the disarray of items littering the space. Lifting a small pocket bible from the shelf, he brushed the dust off the cover, running his fingertips lightly along the spine before tossing it back into the clutter. He lifted a pile of crumpled clothes from the bottom of the mess, wrinkling his nose up in disgust as a foul odor filled his nostrils before dropping it down in the same spot. He was about to start packing away his belongings to head home when the sound of a heel striking tile echoed throughout the locker room. Chase jerked around in surprise to see Cameron attempting to backtrack her way out the door at the sight of him. She froze, and knowing she had been caught, quickly made her way across the corridor to her own locker, staring down at her feet every step of the way. His heart ached at the reaction but he didn't quite understand why.

Chase just watched her as she removed various things from the neat arrangement she had set up in her locker and placed them into her bag until her body grew still and she gradually turned her head around to peek back at him. At catching his cloudy blue eyes with her own, she jolted back around and gripped onto the strap of her messenger bag tightly with one hand before speeding up her packing process. He couldn't take this any more. Rising to his feet, Chase started toward her, his shoes not making nearly as much noise as her own pumps had.

"I'm not a pervert, Cameron." She jumped around, evidently startled by the fact that the distance between them that had existed a few moments ago had disappeared so quickly. Her grip on the leather strap tightened until the skin covering her knuckles turned a pasty white.

"I never said you were." Her words wavered slightly and her eyes darted everywhere but his face, finally landing on the silk around his collar, studying the patterned tie with false interest. With building frustration, Chase took a step closer to her and she instinctively backed up until her shoulders met the resistance of the locker door with a dull thump. Cameron let out a shaky breath, clearly caught off guard by the unexpected circumstances and the various disturbances.

"She was dying," he insisted, feeling irritable despite the fact that she was the one cornered against a wall. Finally showing him a characteristic Cameron response, she narrowed her eyes at him, the strong distaste for his earlier act now obvious in her face.

"She's only nine! She doesn't know what she wants and you shouldn't have kissed her!" Cameron exclaimed, not quite moving from her spot against wall but still not surrendering. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared up at him, her body tensing.

"She's not just some little kid, Cameron! She's mature enough to know that you have to find a way to live any way you can and if I can help her then I'm going to!" Chase snapped back at her, silently appreciating the fact that she wasn't tiptoeing around the situation like she had moments before.

"Robert Chase! You can't just go around kissing little girls when they ask you to! Dying or not, it was completely inappropriate!"

Chase let out a noise of irritation at the use of his name. "How was your first kiss,_ Allison_?" It was a nasty trick he was about to pull but as long as he could get the point across, he didn't care.

"W–What?" Cameron stuttered, wide-eyed and gawking at Chase, who wore an expectant expression. She just blinked, still lost for words even as the seconds dragged on, ticking in his ears.

"Your first kiss," he waited a moment before repeating. She still just seemed shocked by the question; her sharp glare was now replaced by a baffled expression. "Was it perfect?"

"I…It–,"Cameron opened her mouth but hesitated and struggled to find the words for longer than she should have.

"No?" His voice had toned down to a gentleness he rarely used with anyone but young patients. "It never is perfect. The odds are against Andie. Cameron, she won't ever get the chance to have that perfect kiss and I'm not about to crush a girl's dream and let her go on without having this one experience. That may seem trivial to us but it's one that she couldn't bare the thought of dying without." Cameron was taken aback. "And I don't regret doing it, even if you think that it was the wrong thing to do," Chase added, finished trying to justify his actions to her. He turned away and went back to gathering his things and stuffing them messily into the pockets of his bag.

Chase was about to shut his locker when he heard the clink of her heels come up behind him and he waited for it to stop before securing his lock and turning around, Cameron looked ashamed, once again staring his tie before gathering enough courage to look at his face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have overreacted the way I did." Chase nodded and met her eyes before retreating out of the room, sincerely hoping tomorrow would turn out better than this day had.

---

fin


End file.
